Global Children's Initiative

This week, we explored the Global Children's Initiative's website, which is part of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.  The goal of the initiative is to educate and inform policy makers about the science behind development, to support the science and research that drives the work we do in early childhood, and define a leadership role in global development of systems and policies for early childhood.  They are focusing on three arenas: child development, child mental health, and children in crisis and conflict.   Some of the activities the initiative has begun to engage in are improving preschool quality in Chile through effective interventions, measuring outcomes linked to malaria control in Zambia, and establishing child and family-based strategies to address mental health issues related to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Rwanda.

In addition, I reviewed a podcast from the World Forum Radio featuring George Forman.  He has worked intensively in the area of how children think and has authored several books on Piaget.  He states that it is important to think about the development of children's thought processes in terms of how things in their environment change and the ways they notice and adapt to those changes.  Instead of teaching children concepts in one state only, such as "What color or shape is this?", we should allow children to explore and investigate the changing state of concepts, such as how colors change.  In his experience with the Reggio Emilia model, he was impressed by the idea that even fantasy play could help children reflect on their thinking and that symbolization allows their thinking to become visible.  I so appreciate this way of thinking when it comes to early learning.  In our recent studies about the state of our programs in the U.S. and how we are moving toward a universal, standards-based approach, I fear that we will lose sight of the importance of play and exploration in our field.  Children learn through playing and no matter how strict the standards or how much time we devote to direct instruction, nothing will replace the role of play and the valuable lesson it alone can teach.

References

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/

http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio

Sharing Professional Web Resources

As I continue to explore the Zero To Three website, I have found the information on early literacy extremely interesting and am learning ways to make the information useful in my current role.  On the homepage currently, there is the following information:

Promoting Early Language and Literacy Development - ZERO TO THREE’s Policy Center announces the release of a video and a new policy brief illustrating how early language and literacy development contributes to a child’s success throughout life. Play the video right from our website and show it to policymakers, advocates, community partners, and others. For more information, check out the early literacy webinar and our wealth of early literacy resources.

The video referenced is about 6 minutes long and it very well done.  This is a simple way to share the importance of early literacy and learning and how one investor saw a need and filled it because he realized the impact it will have.  The research that continues to emerge about the impact of early interventions and programming for children in the area of literacy will be pivotal in convincing lawmakers and economists to shift the thinking to include early childhood in policy development.

There is a section of the website that address "maltreatment" and the fact that infants and toddlers are at a disproportionately higher risk of abuse and neglect.  While not necessarily controversial, I find the information disturbing and it creates, yet another area for which to advocate.  I have volunteered for a local child abuse prevention organization during a fundraising event and I believe this is an important social issue to address with policy makers as well.

www.zerotothree.org

Podcasts and poverty

This week we are studying the effects of poverty on children and families, both in the US and abroad.  According to the Children's Defense Fund website, there are 15 million children living in poverty in the US.  Ironically, they all live in a working household.  In the country of Kyrgyzstan of the former Soviet Union, the poverty rates have fluctuated since they sought their independence from the union in 1991.  They have gone from 32.9 percent of the population living below the poverty line in 1991 to 60 percent in the mid 1990's, to the now still shocking rate of 47 percent.  Proportionately, young children are experiencing higher rates of poverty and extreme poverty.  Children are entering the workforce in the areas of agriculture, selling in markets, and domestic service.  "Recent research estimate that approximately 24 per cent of children work either full or part time, similarly since transition there are now homeless or 'street' children in Kyrgyzstan's cities, and some reports of child prostitution and trafficking (Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre)."  I think the last portion of the quote is so alarming.  While I understand that it happens more often and in many other countries, it is disturbing that one would view a child as a commodity rather than a valuable asset to society.  Another insight from the information I gathered about this country is that they are experiencing lower levels of education than other countries.  The use of kindergartens dropped to 6 percent (from 30 percent) in 2001, after 10 years of economic upheaval.  This fact alone is a key predictor of troubling times ahead for these children as they enter adulthood.  The country is working to address these issues, but as any struggling country, it is a very slow process. 

I traveled to Russia and the Ukraine in 1992, just after the fall of the union, and things were bleak then.  I was only 18 so I was not fully aware of the implications of the disruption of the government's systems and processes for citizens and families.  What I do remember is that after a home visit in a very small town in the Ukraine, we went with the host family's daughter to the market to buy a thank you gift for her and her family.  We stopped at a flower market and asked what kind of flowers her mother liked.  She picked daisies so we proceeded to gather a bunch of them for her.  The daughter stopped us after picking 6 or 7 and said it would be too much money if we purchased more.  I don't recall what the price was in rubies, but it was equivalent to about 80 cents!  That is an experience I will never forget.

I am still waiting to hear from my international contacts.  In the mean time, I have been listening to World Forum Radio and have enjoyed the short stories of success and the experiences they have had.  Susan Lyon shares about her journey to her work with the Innovative Teacher Project she launched in 1994 in San Francisco.  As a teacher she worked with a boy on a spelling list and she was trying to help him with the word "city".  She described it for him and when she eventually told him what it was, he responded with "That's a small for a big place."  It was this simplicity of thinking that led her to study the Reggio Emilia approach to teaching, where there is a progressive image of the child, the child has some control over their learning, and they learn primarily through sensorial experiences.  Today, she leads the Innovative Teacher Project, which is a network of schools that share environments and take part in round table discussions about processes and practices.  There are both public and private schools that participate in the project and teachers come to use it for professional development.  One of the greatest impacts she has found is that she can create and encourage quality, even in a public school setting.

Resources:

www.childrensdefensefund.org
www.childhoodpoverty.org
http://worldforumfoundation.org

Professional Organization - ZERO TO THREE

I have been a subscriber to the ZERO TO THREE website for over a year.  In my work with infant through preschool aged children, I have found the information and resources on this site to be so helpful.  There are resources for teachers and families that I have shared in trainings and parent meetings and conversations.  The organization was founded in 1977 and they are headquartered in Washington, D.C.  They are a nonprofit that strives to train professionals, policy makers, and parents in their efforts to support the development of infants and toddlers.  Their mission speaks to the importance of enhancing the early experiences based on the latest research and knowledge.  there are newsletters, weekly downloads, and videos that support the work of professionals and families.

One issue that the website highlights is early language and literacy.  They provide researched-based resources for use in the classroom and with families.  There are supporting materials for use with children who speak Spanish.  I would like to see them provide materials in the future that support children who speak the various other languages we are seeing increasingly in our programs.  However, as we learned through one of our articles this week called "The Latino Education Crisis", there is a vital need for comprehensive services for children and families in the Latino communities.  There must be a "continuum of interventions rather than discrete interventions" and preschool efforts alone will not close the learning gap for these children. (Gandara, 2010).  We must treat the child as part of a whole and address the needs of the families that may or may not speak English and have access to quality community resources.

www.zerotothree.org

Gándara, P. (2010). The latino education crisis. Educational Leadership, 67(5), 24–30.

International Contacts and Networking

I am so excited about this course's blog assignment.  We've been asked to establish two international contacts in the early childhood community and I have chosen to reconnect with the country of South Africa.  I traveled there in 2000 to exchange information with educators and policy makers about their practices and was amazed at the culture, people, and kindness I experienced.  I am looking forward to hearing about the state of things today.  I think it is so important to network with other professionals in any field you work in to determine best practices and learn about difference within the field.

I attempted to connect with the Centre for Early Childhood Development and the University of South Africa online.  My intent is to learn about the practices in the field and find out about the process of preparing "practitioners" (their term for educators) for the education of young children.  I have not yet heard back from them.

For this course, I will be examining and exploring the website for the Zero to Three organization.  I have subscribed to the various enewsletters, emails, and written communications they offer.  My passion is birth to three and so I look forward to learning more about the work being done by this organization in this area of expertise.